As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
In some information handling systems, a basic integrated system (BIOS) may be used to ensure that all components are functional. Particularly, the BIOS may be responsible for establishing the association between device components (e.g., disk drives, video controllers, keyboard, mouse, etc.) and the operating system executed by the information handling system. The BIOS may also include data and instructions that enable the operating system to access the information handling system hardware. The system BIOS is stored in the information handling system's memory, typically in non-volatile memory such as flash memory, for example. During booting, the system BIOS first performs a Power On Self Test (POST), and then proceeds to load the operating system. Following successful loading of the operating system, the user will be able to take advantage of all features and functionality offered by or through the operating system.
In many occasions it is desirable to update the system BIOS. For example, the system BIOS may be updated to take advantage of new BIOS features that become available, or to enable the BIOS to support new system hardware. Updating the BIOS may also be necessary if problems with the system BIOS are detected.
Current techniques for remotely configuring BIOS settings include interactively using the BIOS Setup with console redirection or with a remote access controller. Alternatively, the information handling system may boot the operating system to a server that may allow BIOS configuration.
However, current techniques require that the information handling system processor be powered on and running a specific operating system or pre-operating system environment to be able to configure the BIOS setting. For configurations such as a multi-system cluster, powering all of the systems is typically time consuming and power consuming.